Faith and Doubt

At the beginning of this year, I went through minor surgery, so minor in fact, that I was awake throughout. As I looked at the instruments, remembered the description of the procedure, and contemplated the cutting and poking and burning and sewing that was going to take place I wanted to run.

They didn’t have to restrain me or anything, but that visceral feeling of fear got inside me. The only way down from that cliff was to think.

Everything inside me wanted to go home. But the facts of the procedure held me in the seat until the surgeon was done.

People lose faith all the time. So often doubt plagues even the most committed Christian. What do we need to do in those times? The way out is not to close our eyes, cover our ears, and shout/sing Amazing Grace. The only way forward is to think. What facts are true? What lead you to the conclusion that God exists and that He is good?

When Christ told us never to be anxious, He gave us reasons. Consider the birds of the air and how God feeds them. Consider the lilies of the field and how God clothes them. Aren’t you of more value than birds or plants? Consider. Think. Deduce. Be comforted.

The sign of a Christ follower is not a bull-headed refusal to look at facts, however we may be characterized. The sign, the mark of a true believer is thought. I may not know everything, but I know some things that I can’t refute. I may doubt sometimes, but I crawl out of that pit by remembering and thinking.

This week at Hope Church, we are going to talk about that passage in Matthew 6 mentioned above. Join us to think together about God and His incredible goodness!